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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The New Challenge: Fad Diets

Alright, Ive been talking about it for a week or so now and its time to let you in on the new Challenge, and how I came up with it.

I have been it a bit of a weight loss rut. I have a good week with diet and exercise I lose a pound, a bad week I gain a pound but I am really just stuck at the 230 mark. I have been flirting with it for about a month now, and I am tired of it. Well, at the same time of my rut a few people close to me started trying these wonderful tricks that they read somewhere on "how to reduce belly fat", and "ways to lose 9 lbs before dinner." Well I think we are tricked into some diet plans that have these great promises and some have great payoffs and some don't live up to what they are promising. We are following plans that we have no idea what they really are and what they really do to our bodies.

For example, a friend of mine is drinking coconut oil to lose belly fat, and a girl that I know will take any diet pill in order to not have to diet or exercise.

I am a food pyramid kinda person, eat a balanced diet, cut nothing out because you will burn out but my plan is not working out for me right now so lets change things up.

My goal is really 2 fold. I want to try out some new diets, 5 or 6 popular ones, for a few weeks each. I want to see which ones are legitimate diet programs and which ones have big promises and not much else. I want to see which ones you could follow for a lifetime and which ones are just a lose 20 lbs quick and then gain it all back.

I asked some friends, "If you wanted to lose a few pounds what would you do?" I got some popular answers, low carb, no carb, diet pills, weight watchers, and veg diet. Then I went to the Internet and searched in Google, lose weight quick and various other diet type key words and came up with some good diets to follow.

For starters and my least favorite, I will be doing the Master Cleanse. This was an answer I got a lot of on the Internet and in person. Everyone has heard of it and lots have done it. I will say I am not to excited about this one and I will not be doing it for very long because I think it sound miserable, but I am going to do it for 3 whole days.

Master cleanse: This is a detox program. You can expect to lose 10 pounds or so of waste that is trapped to the intestinal wall. There are people that swear by this plan and other say it is bogus but none the less it is popular so Ill give it a try.

Next, I will go into the Special K diet. This one has tons of commercials advertising it and an entire website dedicated to it. The promise is 6 pounds in 2 weeks.

After Special K comes No Carb/ Low Carb. This was by far the most popular answer I was given when asked about a diet. I was told Atkins, South Beach, Kimkins, etc. So for this one I will be doing together. I will start with a No Carb diet, I am thinking doing this portion for 1-2 weeks and then the addition of carbs in week 3-4. This is my second least favorite after the master cleanse.

No Carb: 1-2 Weeks No Carb diet, 0-5 carbs a day. All of these diets have a plan where you can really restrict carbs and gradually add them back as the plan continues.

Low Carb: 1-2 Weeks, Start adding some carbs back into the diet. 5-15 Carbs a day.

Vegan Diet follows low carb diet. This one also has various names as well. The Hallelujah Diet, Reversing Diabetes, etc. This was not one of the most popular diets mentioned but I have known quite a few people that tried to follow it. And there is even talks of healing powers to this diet.

Vegan Diet: No animal products of any kind. No meat, eggs, dairy. Only fruits and veggies, but I do get carbs. No diet cola on this plan, no processed foods at all. I am not much of a meat eater, mostly birds for me, but the lack of dairy seems really hard. No milk!

There are 2 more diets that will be followed, but I have not picked the order yet. I have also not determined the time frame for the last 2 diets. Weight Watchers and the Backwards diet. I hope to follow all of these for 2 weeks each, but depending on my will power by the end they may just get to be one week experiments.

Everyone knows Weight Watchers, count points. The reason I want to try this one is because I want to know how easy or hard it is to follow. I have people tell me all the time, ALL THE TIME, they lost 30 lbs on Weight Watchers, but they always put it back on. I just want to know if it is hard to follow or hard to stick too. People seem to have great success but is it a lack of willpower or inability to continue a hard plan.

The Backwards diet is exactly what it sounds like. Dinner for breakfast, Lunch for Lunch, and Breakfast for Dinner. The idea is our meals gradually grow throughout the day when in fact they should get smaller. Eat like a King for Breakfast, Prince for Lunch, and a pauper for dinner. It is going to be a little bit weird to eat my meals backwards because I am used to my meals like they are, but what a better way to break a rut than to completely change my routine.

I have had some really great friends that have helped me pick my diet plans and some brave ones that have offered to go on particular parts of the diet with me. This way I can have a little bit of support for each portion of the experiment. Those are some great friends!

So, this is the new plan! Its a chance to really listen to my body and know how it is going to react to these different diet plans. Which ones help my body function to its maximum potential and which ones leave me weak and unable to follow. I will do everything I can to follow them to the letter. I have printed off tons of literature and actually I have been reading the South Beach and Reversing Diabetes books.

I know maybe it is a little bit selfish as well to get a jump start on my own weight loss again, but I have to do something new to get out of this rut. We will be starting out next week on Thursday with the Master Cleanse, and I am not happy about that one. As I start a new plan I will give you more details on the one I am starting.

I hope you will follow along with me. I will be brutally honest, I know that is a shock to you all. Hopefully, just hopefully I can see some results (maybe even find a new plan for myself) and maybe just maybe talk some people out of trying some of the crazy plans out there that don't work.

Emily,You are one EXTREME dieting & working out girl!! I too wish you luck, but please be careful some of that stuff is crazy. I have actually lost successful weight on Weight Watchers. It is a VERY HEALTHY plan. I am currently doing South Beach because I can do it without the meetings. The Mtgs of Weight Watchers are very helpful and encouraging. As with any diet, you have to make life changes. It has to cease being a DIET and start being a WAY OF LIFE! I am very proud of your weight loss so far. I hope you soon find a plan that will encourage you to the success you hope to find!

About Me

I've been fat all my life, with a taste of skinny thrown in there. It started with a quest to get skinny and turned into so much more... Follow me as I take on crazy adventures in weight loss and becoming a athlete, now aiming more for a healthy life than a number on a scale!